EVENTS >> CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD

The Chemistry Olympiad program is a competition designed to stimulate interest and promote achievement in high school chemistry, and, ultimately, it brings together the world's most talented high school students to test their knowledge and skills in chemistry.

The ACS New Haven Local Section participated again this year, and Dr. Olivier Nicaise, coordinated the Local Exam and the National Exam. Both Exams were hosted by the Department of Chemistry and Physical Sciences at Quinnipiac University.

This year, we proudly report that Ms Michelle Lu (Pomperaug HS) received High Honors for her performance on the USNCO National Exam, as consequence of being among the top 50 students, and that Mr. Prastik Mohanraj (Engineering & Science University Magnet School) and Ms Hyunseo (Ariel) Kim (Choate Rosemary Hall) received Honors for their performance in that same competition, as a consequence of being among the top 51-144 students; Mr. Mohanraj, by the way, was the ACS winner at the New Haven Science Fair.

Ms Michelle Lu's outstanding performance at this year's Chemistry Olympiad competition, Gold medalist, perpetuates a tradition of excellence among New Haven County high Schools students established several years ago by Ms. Jenny Lu - yes indeed, Michelle's older sister! - a bronze medalist at the 2008 ICho (Budapest, Hungary), and then extended in the following years by Mr.

Alexander Siegenfeld, a gold medalist at the 2010 IChO (Tokyo, Japan), and Mr. James Deng, a silver medalist at the 2012 ICho (Washington, D.C., USA). Needless to say, we are very proud of the record of academic achievement that those high school students in New Haven County have displayed and we are looking forward to many more successes of this nature in the years to come.

2008 - Members of the U.S. team pose with their mentors after the awards ceremony. From left to right are Will Lynch, Lu, Xie, Liu, Lee, Pezzi, and J. L. Kiappes.

How to Participate in the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad

The U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) program is a chemistry competition for high school students. The purpose of the competition is to stimulate young people to achieve excellence in chemistry. The American Chemical Society has sponsored the program since 1984.

The national exam involves three parts administered to more than 1,000 students. Students can use past National Exams to prepare. The 20 top-scoring students are chosen to attend a study camp where students are selected for the International competition.

The Chemistry Olympiad program is a competition designed to stimulate interest and promote achievement in high school chemistry, and, ultimately, it brings together the world’s most talented high school students to test their knowledge and skills in chemistry. This program also provides recognition of outstanding young chemistry students, teachers, and schools. Nations around the world implement their own selection process to identify the most high-performing students who will then compete at the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). The selection process in the U.S., aka the USNCO competition, consists of a multi-tiered competition; generally, it first involves a local competition, aka the Local Exam, and it is then followed by the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad competition, aka the USNCO National Exam, both competitions being sponsored by the American Chemical Society (ACS), and administered by its local sections. The top 20 students at the USNCO National Exam are then invited to attend a 2-week study camp, and 4 students, along with 2 alternates, end up being chosen to represent the United States at the International Chemistry Olympiad competition which typically takes place in July, and in a different country each year (this year’s IChO competition will take place in Paris, France).